122 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



The handsome Purple Heron {Ardea purpurea) 

 and the Night Heron {Nycticorax griseus) have 

 been shot in this country, but they can only be 

 considered as rare visitors, that do not come within 

 the scope of a work of this kind, which is written to 

 give the general public an idea of the birds described 

 in their haunts and general surroundings. 



THE COMMON HERON. 

 (Ardea drier ea^ 



Male. — The bill is yellow ; the ridge of the upper 

 mandible brown towards the end ; iris yellow ; fore 

 and upper parts of the head greyish-white. From 

 the eyes to the occiput the feathers are glossy blue 

 black ; general tone of neck whitish, tinged with 

 reddish-purple, passing into purplish-grey below. 

 A line of oblong black spots on a white ground 

 runs down the fore-part of the neck ; the upper 

 parts are bluish-grey ; the pointed scapular feathers 

 bluish-white ; quills a deep blue-black, tinged with 

 ash grey, the secondaries shading into that colour ; 

 the edges of wings white. From the shoulders a 

 broad band of bluish-black feathers, on fore-part of 

 breast white, spotted with black ; sides ash grey ; 

 tail ash-grey, darker towards the end. The bare 

 space between the bill and the eye is green ; legs 

 and feet are olive-green, touched with yellow. 

 Length, from bill to tail, thirty-nine inches. 



The female is similar to the male, but her crest is 

 shorter. 



